


Profess-

by kitkatboi



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, F/F, Female My Unit | Byleth, Gen, One-Sided Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth, Sad Ending, Spoilers, Why Did I Write This?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 00:01:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29304678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitkatboi/pseuds/kitkatboi
Summary: In Edelgard's last moments, she cannot profess her true feelings.
Relationships: Caspar von Bergliez/Linhardt von Hevring, Edelgard von Hresvelg & My Unit | Byleth, Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Kudos: 26





	1. The Emperor

And there she was.

The golden horns of the emperor were cast aside on the stone floor of the throne room. Her platinum hair had come undone in the battle and now dark blood streaked through the white, resembling those familiar ribbons of years long past. She rested on her knees, no longer clutching Aymr in her armored fists.

In that moment, she was simply Edelgard.

"Of course they sent you." She stared at me across the walk, her voice empty and her violet eyes cold, "Not Rhea, not Dimitri. It had to be you, Professor."

I had barely moved from the entryway. She still called me "professor" after all these years. Suddenly, I was reminded of a distant time, a distant place ... But there was too much at stake to be hesitant. The Sword of the Creator felt heavy in my hand as I made my way to my former student.

"You saved me once, Professor. When we first met. Do you remember?"

I didn't respond because of course I remembered. But back then I hadn't known those were her own men, how ironic it would've been for her to die at their hands.

She continued despite my silence, "Well I don't think I've ever thanked you for that. That was the moment that I—"

She reached out her hand, but I raised my sword parallel to her exposed throat and she halted. Her fingers were trembling, yet I refused to yield. She may have been my student once, but I couldn't let that cloud my judgement. The war had gone on long enough and so many had suffered under her rule.

"I ..." She let her hand drop down to her lap and I lowered my sword once again, "I know that I do not deserve that kindness now, nor did I back then."

I didn't need to listen to her. I didn't need to care anymore for no matter how she looked, she was not the same Edelgard I once knew. I repeated this in my head, over and over and over again, but still ... my arm refused to take action.

"I saw Hubert go down in my name, Professor. I saw Ferdinand fight his last. I told Lin and Caspar to flee. I don't know where Dorothea or Bernie are, but I know Petra surrendered in order to protect Brigid and I do not blame her." She bit the corners of her lips in an attempt to hide her shame.

(I didn't have the heart to tell her how Ashe made swift work of Dorothea, and how Bernadetta went down in the blaze of that hill before the fighting even began. I had seen Caspar fight valiantly, Linhardt right by his side despite his aversion to violence and war, and the two went down together under Sylvain's charge.)

"I failed them, Professor." Her voice cracked with pain and regret as her tears finally fell, "I failed my precious friends and I cannot live knowing how badly I failed them."

She quickly succumbed to her sadness, an emotion rarely displayed in a girl like her even though it drove her every decision. Her sobs echoed against the stone walls and I had no words to console her. She had failed them the moment she chose this path, and that will be her burden to bear for all eternity.

I watched her cry for the loss of the few she held dear. My mission was to kill her, that was all, but I waited anyway. I wanted to let her die as the emperor, for killing her as Edelgard—the girl who had affections for carnations and bergamot tea, who feared the dark, and who let her friends call her "Edie"—would be much too cruel. Then again, did it really matter? Edelgard and the emperor have always been one and the same.

At last, she wiped her tears and took a deep breath, "Even so, I should be grateful you shall save me again, Professor. Although I don't deserve it, I would like to see my friends again."

She lowered her head in resignation and whispered, "You know ... I wanted to walk with you. But now, I understand that is not my path."

I raised the Sword of the Creator high and pretended not to hear the smile in her voice.

" _Thank you, my teacher._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it was supposed to be about Edelgard actually professing her feelings for the professor (hence the name) but then all of a sudden it wasn't and I was sad???
> 
> Still, she was able to profess her feelings of grief and I liked that :,)  
> Anways~ I hope you liked it, thank you for reading!


	2. My Teacher

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hadn't planned on a pt. 2 but I couldn't get this out of my head, so I rewrote the original but from Edelgard's perspective, I hope you like it :,)

I didn’t know how I made it back to the throne room. One moment, I was dragging a bloodied Ferdinand through heavy arrow fire with Hubert at our heels. The next, my hands were empty, my ears were ringing, and I collapsed on the steps of the throne room’s dais.

Blood dripped ominously from my forehead and I tore off my crown, letting my hair fall in sticky clumps down my back. I couldn’t tell where else I was bleeding—that’s the beauty of red armor—but all I knew was that everything hurt and it felt good to sit.

It was only a matter of time before Rhea’s forces stormed the castle and I’d lose my title, along with my life. And what could I do about it? My mission to liberate Fódlan had failed. My forces were decimated, my friends were lost and separated.

I tossed my crown aside.

If you had asked me a day ago, I would’ve said I was prepared for anything. I had every confidence we would be victorious and the Black Eagle Strike Force would celebrate the birth of a new world, one we forged together.

But I wasn’t prepared for what I’d do if I lost them, and I most certainly wasn’t prepared to see _her_ on the battlefield.

“Of course they sent you,” I spat, staring at Garrag Mach’s long-lost professor from across the room. “Not Rhea, not Dimitri. It had to be you, Professor.”

She said nothing in return as she stood frozen in the entryway.

Even after five years, dead as far as anyone knew, the professor hadn’t changed. She could’ve been an illusion, too perfect to be real, but I didn’t care. Aside from the unnatural hair and eye color gifted to her from the gods and that accursed sword in her hand, she looked the same as the day we first met.

I felt my heart stutter when she finally left the doorway, her footfalls muffled by the red carpet leading to the throne.

“You saved me once, Professor. The day we met. Do you remember?” It was stupid to ask, but I wanted to hear her voice and make sure it was really her. She had been gone five years and not a moment went by where I didn’t think of her, where I didn’t want to seek her counsel, where I didn’t dream of a world where she ruled by my side.

She stopped without a word and looked down on me with that ever unreadable expression. That flinty look in her eyes used to be so familiar and reassuring; it meant we had done a good job on our class missions. Now, those pale green eyes, once a deep, navy blue, sent chills down my spine.

There was nothing to say, but still so much I wanted her to know.

“Well I never thanked you for that. That was the moment that I—” I dared to reach for her, like how a flower would try to seek out the sun, but the Sword of the Creator came between us. As it always did.

“I …” The words I had wanted to say instantly died in my throat. I realized there was no point in saying them if she was only here to kill me. I lowered my hand and she lowered her sword, “I know that I do not deserve that kindness now, nor did I back then.”

I stared down at my hands, wishing I at least had Aymr to hold onto. I couldn’t remember if I had broken it (could it break?) or if I dropped it when I picked up Ferdinand.

Ferdinand. And Hubert. And Lin, and Caspar, and Petra, Bernie, Dorothea.

“I saw Hubert go down in my name, Professor.” I didn’t know why I was still talking. It wasn’t like she wanted to listen, why hadn’t she lifted her sword yet? I just kept talking. “I saw Ferdinand fight his last. I told Lin and Caspar to flee. I don’t know where Dorothea or Bernie are, but I know Petra surrendered in order to protect Brigid and I do not blame her.”

Even if any of them survived by some miracle, I knew Rhea’s forces wouldn’t have a shred of mercy for them. I led them to this fate. I rallied them to my cause and I … 

“I failed them, Professor.” I wanted to throw up. I wanted to scream. I wanted to run back out there and kill every last one of them. “I failed my precious friends and I cannot live knowing how badly I failed them.”

The professor was utterly silent as I sat on my knees and cried at her feet. Like a child who skinned her knee or lost a prized stuffed animal, I cried like I never had before. Crying was always beneath an Adrestian emperor, a skilled warrior, a former house leader.

They always said crying got you nowhere. Well now I had nowhere to go anyway.

The world was torturous, sending the one I loved most to put an end to my righteous conquest and finally let me rest. It was wrong but it was right. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Drying my tears and wiping dried blood from my face, I took a deep breath, “Even so, I should be grateful you shall save me again, Professor. Although I don’t deserve it, I would like to see my friends again.”

(I hoped the Black Eagles would meet again in the sky. Perhaps I would join them, perhaps not.)

I bowed before the professor, closing my eyes, “You know … I wanted to walk with you. But now, I understand that is not my path.”

I felt the rush of air as the professor raised that accursed sword and I smiled.

“Thank you, my teacher.” _I loved you more than you could ever know._


End file.
